


butterfly

by mornen



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Thranduil, Baby Legolas Greenleaf, Bugs & Insects, Butterflies, Childhood, Family, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Elves, Not LaCE compliant, Picnics, Warning for Insects (Butterflies) on a Person, but nothing I write will ever be so, parents who aren't in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29163096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mornen/pseuds/mornen
Summary: Legolas visits Rivendell for the first time./Legolas meets Elrond's children for the first time as a baby in Mirkwood.***Legolas wanders along the river bank, arms stretched out at his sides like wings.'Elrond, I like that your river speaks to me!' he sings.‘What does it say?’ Celebrían asks him. She holds onto Legolas’s hand so that he won’t tip over into the river.‘Lots of things. I think it’s jealous of you,’ Legolas answers earnestly. Celebrían shakes her head. ‘It is,’ Legolas insists. ‘Thinks Elrond loves you more.’ Celebrían doesn’t argue.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	butterfly

Legolas wanders along the river bank, arms stretched out at his sides like wings.

'Elrond, I like that your river speaks to me!' he sings.

‘What does it say?’ Celebrían asks him. She holds onto Legolas’s hand so that he won’t tip over into the river.

‘Lots of things. I think it’s jealous of you,’ Legolas answers earnestly. Celebrían shakes her head. ‘It is,’ Legolas insists. ‘Thinks Elrond loves you more.’ Celebrían doesn’t argue.

Thranduil takes Legolas’s other hand. Legolas uses the opportunity to swing between them. This is his first visit to Rivendell.

Talla, Legolas’s other parent, is also on his first journey to Rivendell. He walks a bit behind the others, though Elladan keeps slowing his pace to keep him company. Elrohir holds onto his mother’s arm, and Arwen and Elrond lead the way with the food.

Talla and Thranduil are not married. They will never be married. But they have a child now, and he’s still young, so they live together, though they will not when he is grown. Talla has auburn hair. He brushes it back with one hand.

Legolas pulls his hands free of Thranduil and Celebrían and runs back to him. Talla lifts him into his arms. He carries him up the steep bank they now climb.

‘He’s so beautiful,’ Elladan says to Talla.

‘Thank you,’ Legolas says. ‘If you mean me.’ Elladan smiles at him gently.

‘Yes, you.’

‘So are you,’ Legolas says. ‘You’re all very beautiful. And your hair is like the night, and Arwen’s hair is like evening. And I like the river. And I like Celebrían’s hair. It’s like moonlight. I like moonlight. And the moon. And all the stars. And the sun too. And I like the wind. And I like swimming. Do you like swimming…?’ Legolas bites his lip. ‘I don’t remember your name. You look too much like your brother.’

‘I’m Elladan,’ Elladan answers. ‘And I like swimming.’

Legolas nods. He looks back and forth between them quickly, identifying how to remember their names. They are dressed in similar clothes, but their rings and hair don’t match, so he remembers that.

‘I remember that you visited me when I was very young,’ Legolas says. ‘That was fun. Can you hold me?’

‘He always talks this much,’ Talla says. He hands Legolas over to Elladan. Elladan holds him carefully. He likes children. He doesn’t mind the questions or chatter. He kisses Legolas’s temple.

They stop on a high bank overlooking the river. Elrond lays out a blanket, and he and Arwen set out the food. Everyone sits around the blanket, except for Legolas, who runs off after a butterfly.

Elrohir chases him down when he’s gone too far because he’s fast, and it helps to give parents a break.

‘Come and eat,’ he says, ducking under the branches of a birch tree where Legolas kneels staring at the butterfly where it has settled.

‘Soon,’ Legolas says. He holds his hand out and watches as the orange butterfly climbs onto his finger. He lifts it carefully closer to him to study it.

‘It’s so bright,’ he says. ‘It’s so bright here.’

Elrohir sits down cross-legged beside him. He whispers a soft song until twelve more butterflies fly to them from the grass and flowers about them. They settle in his hair.

Legolas’s eyes light up.

‘That’s beautiful. They’re so many colours...’ Legolas climbs gently onto Elrohir’s lap, standing on his legs, balancing himself with a hand on Elrohir’s chest and inspects the butterflies in his hair. They rest. ‘So beautiful.’

‘Let’s go back,’ Elrohir says. ‘Hmm? We can look for more butterflies after.’ And he lets the butterflies, thirty of them now, free. They disperse into the air, the woods, the grass about them. Legolas lets Elrohir put him on his back and carry him to the others.

Elrohir sets him down near Arwen and drops down near them.

‘Hey, sweetheart,’ Arwen says. Legolas smiles at her. She puts him on her lap and gives him a piece of pancake wrapped around goat cheese. Legolas eats it and reaches for the strawberries. He takes a handful of them. ‘Elrohir showed me butterflies.’

‘That’s very wonderful,’ Thranduil says.

‘There were lots of them and I think some were moths, and they were all very pretty,’ Legolas continues. Arwen strokes his hair. ‘I missed you,’ Legolas tells her. ‘I remembered you from when you saw me before. When I was a baby.’

‘I’m glad you remembered us,’ Arwen says. ‘That’s sweet.’

Legolas smiles. ‘And it’s nice because you all gave me attention.’

‘He’s so your son, Thranduil,’ Talla says. Thranduil smiles.

* * *

Arwen picked Legolas up before her brothers got a chance.

'Fair because you had me as a baby,' she put in before they could even think of complaining.

'But that was ages ago,' Elladan protested gently. He looked over her shoulder at the tiny baby with very bright eyes. He looked like he was going to be trouble on purpose.

'My goodness you're cute, dear,' Elladan whispered to Legolas.

Legolas eyed them all, not sure if he knew who they were. But he was getting attention, which he liked. He grabbed Arwen's braid because it was close and looked fun to hold onto.

'Ow,' Arwen said

‘Yeah, you were worse,' Elrohir teased.

‘Was not,’ Arwen said not looking up from Legolas’s eyes. She kissed his nose. ‘So tiny.’

‘Okay, my turn,’ Elrohir said. He took Legolas from her. Legolas held tightly to Arwen’s braid before dropping it for Elrohir’s braid, which had silver beads in it and was therefore more interesting. He put the bead in his mouth. Elrohir pulled it away gently. ‘That’s really dangerous.’ Legolas reached for the white gem on Elrohir’s head.

‘Oh, he takes after Thranduil,’ Elladan said. Arwen laughed.

Elladan took Legolas from his brother’s arms.

‘But it’s okay, little one,’ he said. ‘You can steal our jewels anytime.’

‘That is not a good thing to promise Thranduil’s child,’ Arwen said.

‘Shh, he’ll hear you,’ Elrohir said. Arwen laughed again.

‘Still get to hold him again,’ she said, and her brother’s obliged her. She kissed Legolas. ‘Baby.’

**Author's Note:**

> anonymous request on tumblr


End file.
